Hello I am currently living in Southern California (La). My family and I want to travel to other states in the U.S. I am a 17 year old male and plan on traveling for a few weeks. What states would be the best to visit? What should I do/see there? I really want to go to the south like Mississippi or Georgia for the food and hospitality. The north like Boston would also be pretty cool. Give me any advice that would help. Thank you.

I think this is where reading Fodor's travel guides might be a good idea. You can do a search by state on this forum and see what posts appeal to you. Please be aware, however, that some, maybe most, hotels will not allow someone under 18 or 21 to register. Lodging might be the first question to answer.

He did say his family so maybe he has been tasked with finding places to travel with them.. I love the east coast for history. I think everyone needs to go to Washington and see our capitol.. Most every museum and the zoo are free. Airbnb for your family would be cheaper and nicer than say a hotel. Visit Arlington National cemetery, Mount Vernon and take in a baseball game. The Washington Nationals are great. I would hop on the train and head to Philadelphia and then NYC and last but not least Boston. You could fly into DC and out of Boston,

What are your interests? Knowing what you like will better enable the folks at Fodor's make recommendations you might use~there's no use recommending a great hike to someone who hates the outdoors, or a great art museum to someone who has no interest in art. With that in mind, here are a few places you might start:

The South is great for food and history.

Boston has some amazing food (the North End for Italian food; the cannolis are to die for!) and in rich is history.

Washington, DC, should be (in my opinion) a must for everyone~there are museums, monuments, art galleries, shows at the Kennedy Center....

If you like music, Nashville and New Orleans are great. Both of those cities also have a great deal of history.

If you like the outdoors, the US is home to some amazing National Parks. https://www.nps.gov/index.htm

Happy planning!!

You have asked another semi-general question over on the Europe board and I applaud you for getting started with your research. But Seeing the two together, I'd suggest you start out with 2 or 3 guide books to get a better feeling for where you might want to travel and then we can help you nail things down a bit.

Guide books are good. So are paper maps.
Do you want to see cities? National Parks? Museums?
How long will you be travelling? What is a good idea of a budget?

You can see "an area"--you mention the south. Lots to do and see, but just as California is LARGE, so is "the South".
thinkd about your parameters--time, how you will travel (fly to a city and explore by car), costs, etc.
YOU have a LOT of research to do FIRST

Has your family given you any guidelines as to where they want to go and what to see? Do you or they have a preference whether to drive long distance, fly from LAX or elsewhere or perhaps take a train from Los Angeles Union station and renting a car from the train destination?

With such a wide open question I think it's easier to use hard-copy guidebooks (instead of the internet) in the early planning stages. Check out some from the library. And buy a paper map of the USA and put it up on the wall. Then start researching.

Once you have some ideas pinned down THEN we can better help you. Like if you decide you want to see the PNW (pacific northwest) you can easily find all kinds of itineraries and tips for seeing Oregon and Washington both here on Fodor's and also on Trip Advisor (just as examples).

I believe at this point you question is simply too BIG for us to be of much specific help yet. happy planning, from suze

I forgot to put my reason for using paper maps. Put pins in places you want to visit and see what it looks like to you and your family. Maybe even use different color pins for different family members to see how that looks.

A few things to talk to your parents about:

1. Overall budget. My guess is that your parents have a maximum dollar amount in mind.

2. Do either of your parents have airline miles accumulated (and on which airline)?

3. Do they feel comfortable driving in another city, or would they prefer not to rent a car?